I thought this statement towards the end of the piece was most interesting:

"But wool accounts for 80% of the cost of shepherding and although the money earned by selling wool was once sufficient to pay for the feed of the sheep, the amount they now receive for wool does not even cover the cost of shearing."

Wow, those are not good numbers. I knew the yarn industry was having problems, but I don't see how the farmers stay in business like that.
It makes me worried about shetland wool, because I don't think stranded knitting is as popular as it used to be. At least not in my area, according to my LYS. They stopped carrying all their 4ply yarns a couple of years ago.
I will definitely read this. Thanks for the link!